The Girl in the Snow
by Ichigo No Kuro Neko
Summary: Luffy and Ace find a girl lying in the snow in Fuschia Village. Who is she? Where did she come from? Why did she come here? Eventual LuNa, rated T just in case
1. Chapter 1

**Strawberry Black Cat:**This was named without much thought....same for Luffy's mom (Miyuki)

******Strawberry Black Cat: Anyway thier ages are a follows, Nami is 5, Luffy is 6, Ace is 8, and Miyuki is 28**

**Strawberry Black Cat: I'll finish DWIDoHA eventually, it's on a hiatus now.**

**Strawberry Black Cat: So now, Firehart! Disclaimer!**

**Firehart: Strawberry Black Cat DOES NOT OWN One piece! (But she does own Ichigo and Miyuki!)**

Luffy and Ace were coming home from shopping with their mom on a snowy Thursday morning. Normally they would be in school at this time of the day but because of the blizzard they had the night before they decided it would be best for the children to stay home that day. Though Luffy's mom still had to go shopping because of her 2 sons' and her daughter's ungodly appetites. Well actually Ace wasn't really her son and Ichigo was still on milk but they ran out of food quickly and she had to go to the store or they would run out.

Luffy and Ace were a few meters away from their mother, playing as they were walking back to the house along the shoreline of the ocean, being careful not to get wet when Luffy spotted something in the snow. "Onii-chan who's that?" Luffy asked Ace while pointing at what appeared to be a badly injured girl lying in the snow where the waves were meeting the shoreline.

"I don't know…" Ace said back "I've never seen her before…anyway let's go see if she's alright" Ace finished while running up to where the girl was with Luffy close behind.

"Where are you two going?" Miyuki asked "We need to get home incase the blizzard resumes"

When Luffy and Ace got to where the girl was they could see that she had cuts, scrapes, and bruises all over her body and that she didn't look any older than 3 or 4 years old. "Mama! Look! There's a girl here!" Luffy yelled to his mom with excitement in his voice.

'_A girl?' _Miyuki thought _'How can there be a girl here when there was a blizzard last night?'_

Miyuki went over to where the 2 boys were to see if they were telling the truth, expecting the 2 to be lying. After all why would a girl be lying in the snow when it was less than 20 degrees outside? When she got over to where Luffy and Ace were she saw that there really was a girl there. _'Odd…I don't ever remember seeing a girl with orange hair in the village before…'_ she thought. _'She's dressed oddly as well…' _Miyuki thought to herself _'Aren't those…summer clothes…?' _"Excuse me, little girl? Are you alright?" Miyuki asked the girl, shaking her a little.

Much to her surprise though the girl didn't wake up. Miyuki shook the girl a little harder when she noticed that the girl was soaking wet. _'She couldn't have come from another island could she?'_ Miyuki thought _"There's no way…there was a blizzard last night, if she had been sailing the ship would've been destroyed' _

"Do you know who she is mommy?" Luffy asked

"No…" Miyuki said back "In any case it's below freezing and she's dressed in summer clothes, let's bring her back to our house and warm her up, we can tell the police about her later"

"You two carry the groceries so I can carry this girl and Ichigo" Miyuki finished

"Haaai" said Luffy and Ace back, they hated to carry the groceries because when they had to carry them they couldn't play while they walked home.

Miyuki handed the groceries to the two boys and picked the little girl up. When she was picking her up from the sand she noticed a necklace that looked like a hand-carved tangerine made of wood on a thick string that had the letters N A M I delicately engraved on it.

'_Nami?' _Miyuki thought _'Is that her name or is it some kind of reference to the ocean?' _

**Some minutes of walking later**

Miyuki put Ichigo in the crib she had saved since Ace was a baby and then turned her full attention to getting the little girl that Luffy had found warm. "Luffy" She said "Could you go and get the thermometer?"

Luffy of course only being 6 didn't really know what a thermometer was and asked "What's a thermometer?"

"It's the magical stick I use when you two get sick to show how hot you are, it's in the bathroom" She said back

"OK!" Luffy yelled back already running off towards the bathroom

While Luffy was getting the thermometer Miyuki was getting a fire started and was wrapping the little girl up in blankets. _'Her clothes are wet too…'_ Miyuki thought to herself "Ace" She said "Go and get some of your old clothes"

"How old?" Ace asked back

"From when you were 2 or 3" Miyuki answered as Ace ran back to where she kept their old clothes.

"I found the magical stick!" Luffy shouted as he ran back carrying the thermometer

"Good job" She said to Luffy while patting him on the head.

After she was finished praising Luffy she put the thermometer in the girl's mouth and waited a few minutes for it to register. When a few minutes had gone by she took the thermometer out of her mouth and looked at it. "About 92 degrees…" Miyuki said "She's got hypothermia, we need to warm her up"

"Ace!" She shouted "Have you found some of your old clothes yet?"

"I found Luffy's old clothes but I can't find mine!" He shouted back

"Just bring some of Luffy's old clothes then!" She shouted to Ace

Ace came back a few minutes later with some old clothes that Luffy wore when he was 3 "These should do" Miyuki said "I need both of you to go to your room alright?" She continued

"Whyyyy?" Luffy asked, not wanting to go to his (and his brother's) room

"Just go" Miyuki said pointing at their room

After she heard their door shut she changed the girl into the dry clothes and put them on a rack a few feet away from the fire so they could dry out. She then bandaged up the girl's wounds and put her onto a makeshift bed on the floor made of blankets close to the fire. "There" Miyuki said "That should warm her up"

"Can we come out of our room now?" Luffy asked whining

Miyuki sighed _'I swear that boy has no patience, just like his father' _"Sure, come on out" she said

Luffy and Ace came out of the room to see the girl wrapped up on blankets on the floor. "Are we gonna keep her mommy?" Luffy asked

"No" Miyuki said to Luffy "We're going to report her to the police as soon as she wakes up, her parents are probably worried about her"

"Awww" Luffy whined "I really wanted a little sister"

"Luffy…" Miyuki said "You already have a little sister"

"But Ichigo's too little to play with me and Ace!" He complained

"Luffy, we need to get her back to her Mommy and Daddy, they're probably searching everywhere for her right now" Miyuki told Luffy

Luffy looked disappointed after she said this "In a few years Ichigo'll be old enough to play wit you guys ok?" She told him, trying to cheer him up

"But she's only 1!" Luffy said "It's gonna be a long time 'till she can play with us!"

Miyuki tried to explain to Luffy how they weren't the girl's family and why she couldn't stay here but Luffy was dead set on her becoming his sister. After awhile Miyuki gave up and cleaning the small house. She had to admit, one of the good things about living in such a small house is that it was easy to clean and that she could heat the whole house with just one fire.

After she was about halfway done with cleaning the house Luffy said to her "Why isn't she waking up?"

"Her body's probably trying to recover" Miyuki answered "She was hurt pretty badly"

**The next Morning **

The next morning Ace woke up finding that Miyuki had fallen asleep in a chair that night. _'Did Miyuki never go to bed?'_ Ace thought _'It's morning…I guess I should wake her up'_ "Miyuki, it's morning" Ace said while shaking her gently.

"Hn?" Miyuki said, only half-awake

"It's morning" Ace repeated

"Huh…" She said looking around "Oh! Ace! Go and wake Luffy up will you?"

Ace walked back into his and Luffy's room and walked back into the room with Luffy, who now had a large bump on his head. "You two can go get dressed and brush your teeth while I fix breakfast" Miyuki said pointing to the bathroom.

About 15 minutes later both of the boys were dressed and ready for the day and Miyuki was still fixing breakfast. Luffy was sitting next to the girl they had found the day before that was still sleeping. Then Luffy saw her starting to stir a bit. "Hey, I think she's waking up!" Ace, who had been nearby said.

Miyuki took the frying pan off of the stove and ran over to where she had put the girl. When the girl finally opened her eyes they all saw that they were a beautiful shade of maroon. Miyuki was the first to ask something "Excuse me, but do you know where you are little girl?" she asked

The girl shot up only to fall back down from the throbbing pain in her head. She then looked at the people in front of her with eyes full of fear. "Shhhh" Miyuki said to the girl while patting her softly on the head, trying to calm her down "It's alright, we're not going to hurt you"

The girl tried to get up again, only to fall back down as she did before. Miyuki then noticed that the girl's face was flushed and she was still shivering. Miyuki put one of her hands to the girl's forehead and found that it was surprisingly warm. "Luffy…" She said "…Go get the magical stick again"

"Why can't Ace get it?" He whined

"Go and get it or you don't get any breakfast" Miyuki said back

After hearing this Luffy ran back to the bathroom as fast as he could to go get the "magical stick". A few minutes later he came back with the thermometer and said "Here you go" while handing it to Miyuki.

Miyuki put it in Nami's mouth and waited a few minutes for it to register. After she was done waiting she took the thermometer out of the girl's mouth and looked at it. "This isn't good…" She said "She has a fever now…probably from being wet at the shoreline for god-knows how long"

"Ace, Luffy" She said "Go and get the doctor, it would be a good idea to get her checked out"

"So…" Luffy said "Are we keeping her?"

"No!" Miyuki yelled at him giving him a bump on the head "Just go and get the doctor!"

And with that both boys went off running in the snow to go get the village doctor.

**Strawberry Black Cat: Will you reivew this chapter? Pretty please? I worked realllllly hard on it. *kitty-cat-eyes***


	2. What's her name? Where's she from?

******Strawberry Black Cat: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I got lazy, sorry about it being short too**

**Strawberry Black Cat: Firehart's sick so I gotta do it myself, I DO NOT own One Piece, I'm just a fan and forever will be.**

After running to the doctor's office Luffy and Ace burst through the door, making the doctor accidently break the ship-in-a-bottle that he had worked on since Luffy was born. "Luffy!" He cried "Do you know how long it took to get that far on it!? I was almost done building it!"

"Sorry but mama wanted us to come and get you!" Luffy said back

"Eh? Miyuki wanted me? What for?" The doctor asked

"We found a girl at the sea and she's hurt and mama says she's sick so she told us to get you!" Luffy said happily

"Found a girl at the…" The doctor said before Luffy grabbed his arm and pulled him along back to his house

Minutes later Luffy came bursting through the door pulling the doctor by the arm while Ace was trying to catch up with his little brother who had gotten a head-start. "You two got back faster than I expected you to" Miyuki said, not sounding the least bit surprised.

"That's because he dragged me the whole way!" The doctor shouted before noticing the girl lying on the ground

"Who is she?" He asked

"I don't know" Miyuki answered "Luffy and Ace found her at the shoreline yesterday"

"She looks like she's hurt pretty badly…" The Doctor said

"You didn't have to tell me that! Just examine her!" Miyuki shouted, trying not to hit the doctor

"Ok! Just don't hit me." The doctor quickly responded, knowing how bad Miyuki's temper could get when you pissed her off, which actually wasn't all that easy. He guessed that Luffy had been causing her more stress than usual and she was venting on him because of that.

Miyuki set Luffy and Ace outside to play in the snow while the doctor examined the girl. The doctor would occasionally mumble something inaudible or scribble something on his clipboard. After he was done he turned to Miyuki who was making lunch. "It's nothing serious, just a bad case of flu, her wounds aren't life threatening either however she does have a rather large cut on her left leg. She also has a broken arm and it's going to take awhile for everything to heal."

"I see…" Miyuki said "Does the village have any records of her?"

"No" The doctor responded "She's not from around here. I have records from all the towns on this island, she wasn't in a single one of them"

"We should file a report to the-"He started before he was cut off by Miyuki

"Alright then" Miyuki started "I'm going to take care of her, we can ask Wood Slap to alert other islands that a child was found on the beach later" She finished

"What? But won't she be better off with the-"The Doctor started before he was cut off again by Miyuki

"No, she'll be in my care until we can find her parents and that's final, I don't care what you think is best for her. She will be taken care of by me until we know who she is and where she lives. Furthermore the World Government is to hear nothing about her. Do you understand?" Miyuki asked the Doctor

"Y-Yes" The doctor said back, not wanting to set Miyuki off.

"Alright then" She said getting up from the table that they had been talking at "Now since that subject matter has been settled are you staying for lunch doctor?" She asked

"Huh? Oh, no. I don't want to have to put you through the trouble of making another lunch" He answered

"Alright then, in that case here's a bento" She said handing him a bento "Take it as payment for examining her, I assume you've set the broken arm and given her some medicine as well?"

"Yes I have, but I can't accept payment from you for treating a girl you don't even know" He said

"I know you love my bentos* and you're not leaving here without some type of payment from me" Miyuki said "Besides, if you didn't take it the bento would go to waste"

"Fine" The doctor said while taking the bento

"Be careful on your way home, the road is slippery" Miyuki called as he was heading out the door

The doctor didn't respond because he was already in deep thought _'I know that girl has a grudge against the World Government but not all marines are like the ones she met'_ he thought

After the doctor had left Miyuki called the two boys in for lunch. She put their lunches on the table after they had took off their coats and washed their hands. When Luffy saw another lunch on the counter he asked Miyuki "Mama, how come there's another lunch there?"

"We have to feed the girl we found don't we?" Miyuki said "And while we're on that topic I need to say something to you two"

Luffy and Ace both looked up from their food so that they were looking at Miyuki. "Until we can find her parents the girl you two found on the beach will be staying with us" she said

"So I'm gonna have a sister!?" Luffy jumped up from his seat and shouted

"Luffy! How many times do I have to tell you that you already have a sister!?" Miyuki yelled

"…Then…I'm gonna have another sister!?" Luffy asked

"Until we can find her parents or where she lives, yes" Miyuki said with her hand to her forehead

Luffy and Ace started eating their lunches while Miyuki took the bowl off of the stove and took it over to the little girl. As soon as Miyuki got over to where the little girl was Luffy was already done with his lunch and ran over to where Miyuki was. "Mama, How come she gets to eat soup and me and Ace had to eat bentos?" Luffy asked

"It's not soup, it's Okayu*" Miyuki told Luffy "She gets to eat Okayu because it's easy to chew and digest and we don't want her throwing-up after she's eaten something"

Luffy didn't say anything but kept looking at the girl who was staring at both of them with scared eyes. "Here, eat this" Miyuki said as she held a spoon of the Okayu to the little girl.

The girl turned her head a little, showing that she didn't want to eat the Okayu. "Come on now" Miyuki said to her "You need to eat something"

Then as if he was reading her mind Luffy said "You don't have to worry Mama didn't put anything bad in it"

The girl looked at him unsure if she should believe him or not. Luffy took the spoon from Miyuki and ate the Okayu in it. Miyuki yelled at Luffy for taking the spoon and made him get another. After Luffy had gotten her another spoon Miyuki offered the girl another spoonful of Okayu. Although this time the girl accepted it. Luffy was next to Miyuki grinning as if to say 'See?'

Miyuki had told the boys to keep an eye on the girl and on Ichigo while she went out to get some more things from the market that she would need since they were taking care of another child. She told Luffy not to be too loud so the girl could sleep however it was only a few minutes until Luffy was asking the girl an endless ocean of questions like "How old are you?" "What's your name?" and "Where did you come from?" The little girl would just look at him bleary-eyed, with most of the fear they once showed gone. Although not apparent to Luffy it was obvious that she was getting tired "Hey Luffy" Ace said "I think you should just let her sleep for awhile. Miyuki's not gonna be happy if she comes back and sees you questioning her"

"Aww But I wanna know her name!" Luffy whined

"Maybe she doesn't want to say it!" Ace yelled to Luffy

"But…" Luffy protested

"If you don't let her sleep Miyuki won't let you have-" Ace said before he was cut off by the girl

"Nami…" The girl said weakly in a voice so quiet that made a calm river sound like a waterfall "My name's Nami…" she finished before going into a coughing fit

"H-Hey! Are you okay!?" Ace asked while helping her sit up and patting her back

Just then Miyuki walked through the door carrying a few small rolls of fabric and some extra groceries "Ace, Luffy I'm ba-" She said before seeing the girl coughing and Ace patting her back.

Miyuki got Ace to move aside and waited for Nami to stop coughing. After she had stopped Miyuki asked her "Are you alright? Do you want something to drink?"

The girl didn't say anything but kept trying to catch her breath. "Luffy" Miyuki said "Go and get a glass of water"

Luffy came back a few moments later with a glass of water, just like Miyuki had asked of him. "Here, drink this" Miyuki said while holding the glass to Nami's mouth

Nami looked over at Luffy who was grinning before she decided that the water was safe to drink and took a few sips of it. Luffy and Ace stayed inside for awhile after Miyuki had gotten home but went back outside to play in the snow a little over 30 minutes later. While they were making "Super Snow Men" as Luffy put it, Miyuki was going to take Nami's measurements so she could make some clothes for her with the fabric she had just bought. The clothes that Miyuki had to make were so small that they didn't take long to finish, only about a hour. Miyuki went ahead and got the girl to put on the clothes _'She's so tiny…'_ Miyuki thought _'You can even see her ribs…I wonder when the last time she ate anything was?'_

**Strawberry Black Cat: Here are the notes, A bento is usually discribed as a japanese lunchbox, Okayu is usualy translated to Rice Porriage or Rice Soup. It's usualy fed to the sick in japan because it's easy to digest and chew. **

**Strawberry Black Cat: Please review and make my day!**


	3. Going to school!

******Strawberry Black Cat: Sorry I haven't updated in god-knows-how-long but I've been lazy and been trying to plan out some of the story, well, I'll tell you now, It didn't work. **

**Strawberry Black Cat: SO! Firehart disclaimer!**

**Firehart: ****Strawberry Black Cat DOES NOT OWN One Piece, However she does own ALL of the OC's**

**Strawberry Black Cat: Enjoy!**

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Days passed and Nami gradually began to get better. It had gotten to the point where she just had a runny nose and would cough every now and again. The last part of the snowstorm had passed and Luffy and Ace had to go back to school. When the 2 boys were getting their bentos from Miyuki Nami was looking at them curiously as if to say "What are those for?". Luffy noticed this and once again, as if reading her mind he said "These? Me and Ace-nii-chan are going to school and these are our lunches for the day!"

Nami got up, wanting to follow them to this place that they called "School". "Mama, can Nami come to school with us today?" Luffy asked Miyuki.

"Nami? Is that your name?" Miyuki asked the girl.

Nami simply nodded slightly in response the Miyuki's question. "That's a pretty name" Miyuki said "We even found you at the ocean, what a coincidence"

"So can she come to school with us?" Luffy asked, obviously wanting Nami to come with them.

"Hmmm…" Miyuki said as she thought "I guess it would be okay as long as she doesn't overexert herself…"

As soon as Luffy heard this, he was about to drag Nami out of the house by her hand before Miyuki stopped him. "Luffy!" She yelled "I still have to make her a bento and I have to go and enroll her!"

Miyuki made Nami's bento quickly, not wanting to make the 3 be late. "Luffy you're going to have to share your supplies with her until I can get some more" Miyuki said before the four of them left. Luffy replied by saying yes rather unenthusiastically since he had been planning on doing that anyway.

After Miyuki looked at the time she and the boys both ran to the school while she carried Nami and Ichigo. It wasn't an easy task carrying a child and an infant while running but Miyuki knew that Nami wouldn't be able to keep up with them and Ichigo couldn't be home by herself.

Luffy and Ace managed to make it to their respective classrooms just as the bell was beginning to ring while Miyuki was taking Nami to the main office to enroll her.

"Myuu-chan! Long time no see!" said the office secretary with enthusiasm

"What brings Myuu-chan-" She said before she cut herself off "Who's this cute little girl? Who is she? Who is she?" She asked excitedly while bending down to eye level with Nami and looking up at Miyuki expectantly.

"Don't call me that Chisetsu**!** We're not grade-schoolers anymore!" Miyuki yelled as Chisetsu continued to look at Nami curiously.

"Who is she? Who is she?" Chisetsu continued asking

'_She's not listening…as usual…' _Miyuki thought, mentally sighing. "Her name is Nami" Miyuki said while mentally sighing.

"That's a pretty name, I wish my parents had given me a pretty name when I was born" Chisetsu said with her pointer finger to her mouth.

Chisetsu looked at Nami some more and said "She doesn't look like either you or Dragon…."

"Before you say something stupid let me say that she's not my child" Miyuki said, knowing that her childhood friend was going to say something that made little sense.

"So you took up babysitting? I always thought that Myuu-chan said that Ace, Luffy, and Ichigo were enough to handle"

"She washed up on the shore a few days ago and until we can find her parents I'm taking care of her" Miyuki replied while wanting to throw Chisetsu out of a window in frustration.

"So her name's Nami and she was carried here on the waves?* How neat!" Chisetsu said while displaying a child-like smile.

"So can I enroll her today or not?" Miyuki asked, growing impatient

"Oh that's right! Just wait a moment while I get out the papers!" Chisetsu said while quickly running over to the desk where she threw papers out of a folder left and right so she could find the registration fourms.

Miyuki sighed and said "You really do live up to your name don't you Chisetsu?"*

"Heh heh, I guess" Chisetsu giggled as she found the forums and was getting them in order.

"Alright, now just fill in all of these little boxes but sections 2 and 4 aren't required to be filled in anymore" Chisetsu told Miyuki as she pointed to the boxes.

A few minutes later Miyuki finished filling in most of the boxes and bent down to eye level with Nami and asked her "Can you tell me how old you are?"

Still refusing to speak Nami held up 5 fingers. "Alright I guess that means she's 5…" Miyuki said almost inaudibly as she scribbled down some more information.

"Alright, here" Miyuki said as she handed the papers to Chisetsu "They're all completely filled out"

Chisetsu took the papers with a solemn look on her face and said "Myuu-chan, you've really changed ever since the Marines-" before she was cut off before Miyuki put her hand on Chisetsu's mouth and said

"One more word and I'll throw you out the window" She said with a threateningly dark face.

"Alright, alright…I won't say another word I'll just take Na-chan to the kindergarten classroom" Chisetsu said while pulling Miyuki's hand off of her face.

"Alright, tell Luffy to take her home with Ace after school and tell the teacher not to allow her to participate in gym or recess until her arm is healed" Miyuki said as she began to walk off after handing Nami her bento.

After Miyuki had left Chisetsu took Nami's right hand and said "Then let's get you to your class shall we?" as she led Nami down the hallway.

They soon came to a large brown door that said "Kindergarten" on it in large letters "We're here~" Chisetsu chimed as they arrived at the door.

Chisetsu quietly opened the door and said "Sorry for the intrusion!" as she lead Nami to where the teacher was.

Chisetsu quickly said a few things to the teacher in a whispering tone and then walked back to the office. "Alight class!" The teacher said while she clapped her hands together to get their attention "We have a new student!

The class of 5 and 6-year-olds dropped what they were doing and looked at the girl that none of them had seen before. Nami looked at all of them fearfully. "Her name is Nami and-" The teacher said before Luffy cut her off and ran up to Nami saying "Nami! What took you so long?"

"Luffy, you know her?" The teacher asked Luffy

"Yup! My mom's taking care of her!" He said with a huge grin on his face.

"Well, as I was saying, her name is Nami and she'll be coming to school here for awhile so be nice and try to be her friend alright?" The teacher asked

"Haaai" was the simultaneous answer that everyone gave the teacher

The teacher bent down to eye level with Nami and said "My name's Ms. Choko" When she noticed that the girl was looking fearfully at the rest of the class she said "Oh don't worry, they're all really nice kids"

Ms. Choko took Nami's bento and put it up on a shelf with all of the others. Luffy then grabbed Nami's hand and pulled her over to where he and 2 of his friends had been playing while saying "Ne, ne, Nami, come play with me and my friends!"

The two boys eagerly got up and went over to her while saying that their names were Minori and Minoru. Apparently they were identical twins. Then a relatively small group consisting of about 5 girls came up to Nami. The leader of the group took a step closer to Nami and held her hand out while saying, "My name's Ayaka but you can call me Aya. Your name's Nami right?"

Nami stared at Ayaka fearfully and didn't shake her hand. Most of the other kids had dropped whatever they were playing with and were instead watching the two to see what would happen. "Why are you scared? I'm not going to do bad stuff to you" Ayaka said while holding her hand closer to Nami.

Nami quickly ran away from Ayaka and hid behind Luffy. Ms. Choko came over to Nami and bent down to eye level with her and said, "Come on now, Ayaka-chan won't bite, she just wants to be your friend"

Nami still refused to shake Ayaka's hand and Ayaka was beginning to get mad. It was hard to keep her temper under control, mostly because she was used to always getting what she wanted but she couldn't lose her composure here. After all it would make the daughter of the richest man in Fuschia Village look like her true self rather than the sweet image that she had tricked the class into thinking was her.

After seeing that Nami wasn't going to shake her hand Ayaka made a quick 'Hmpf!' sound and walked away with the other girls in her group following close behind. One of the girls whispered to Nami, "You're going to wish that you never came here when we're done with you" before she walked off, leaving a scared Nami hiding behind Luffy while Ms. Choko was trying to bring her out of her shell.

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**Strawberry Black Cat: It's a cliffhanger right?**

**Firehart: I think so...**

**Strawberry Black Cat: And the best part is I don't know when I'm going to update! So keep reviewing and I might get it out faster!**


	4. Lunch Time!

******Strawberry Black Cat: Yay! I made a longer chapter! And it was faster than the last one too!**

**Firehart: Don't get so full of yourself. **

**Strawberry Black Cat: Meanie..Anyway if anyone knows some information about One Piece strong world could you please tell me? Especially if you know a site that has clips of the movie?**

**Firehart: Just wait for Greg from the AP fourms to upload some clips...**

**Strawberry Black Cat: But I just can't wait! Anyway Firehart: disclaimer!**

**Firehart: ****Strawberry Black Cat DOES NOT OWN One Piece! Eiichiro Oda-san does!**

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Before they knew it 10:30 came, and with 10:30 came one thing that they all loved, lunch. As soon as Ms. Choko said "Alright everyone! It's time for lunch so come and get your bentos!" The kids rushed over to the table where the teacher had put their bentos.

In under a minute nearly everyone had gotten their bentos from the table and ran to go get a seat with everybody else. The table was rather high, at about a little higher head-level for a normal kindergartener so Ms. Choko always put the bentos in a line along the edge of the table when it was time for them to eat lunch. When Luffy had went running over to the table Nami followed and when he got his bento she got her's from the table. Well _tried_ to get her bento from the table anyway. Her bento had gotten pushed back a few inches when the other kids were in a frenzy to get their lunches and she couldn't reach it. Seeing that Nami couldn't reach her bento on the table one of the girls in Ayaka's group went up to nami and asked her, "You can't reach your bento? I'll help you!"

Though instead of getting Nami's bento and handing it to her she got a hold of it and knocked it onto the floor while pretending that it was an accident by saying, "Sorry! I didn't mean to drop your lunch onto the floor!"

Ms. Choko had saw what the girl had done and went over to the girl and scolded her by saying, "Ruika! Why did you do that!? Do you remember the golden rule?"

"Ummm…Treat others the way you want to be treated?" Ruika said back in a hesitant tone.

"Now, would you like it if someone threw your lunch on the floor?" Ms. Choko asked Ruika

"But I didn't mean to!" Ruika said back trying to make Ms. Choko believe her

"…Fine…Accidents DO happen after all" Ms. Choko replied, "But tell Nami-chan that you're sorry"

"Sorry Nami-chan" Ruika said, pretending to look guilty

"Now about your lunch…" Ms. Choko started as she examined the bento thrown onto the floor, "Looks like Miyuki-san wrapped most of the things individually in plastic wrap so you can eat everything except the omrice"*

"I'll get a vacuum cleaner to get it up, you can go eat with everybody else alright?" Ms. Choko asked Nami

Nami nodded her head and went over to where Luffy was. Luffy hadn't had noticed Nami being there for a second as he was too busy glaring at Ruika. Minoru snapped Luffy back into the real world and ate his lunch in pretty much one bite and started grabbing Minori and Minoru's lunches as well. "Hey wha'd you do that for!?" yelled Minoru "I was going to eat that!"

"I'm sure Luffy just wanted more to eat" Minori said back to his brother calmly while smiling "I don't mind if he takes some of my lunch"

"I don't care if he's hungry! I don't want him eatin' my lunch!" Minoru yelled back

While Minori and Minoru were fighting and Luffy was laughing at the two of them Nami wrapped up the rest of her bento as best as she could and got up to go put it back on the table. When Ms. Choko saw one again that Nami was having trouble getting her bento back onto the table she went over, took the bento from Nami's hands, and said "Here, let me help you"

Though when she felt how heavy the bento still was she looked inside and saw that Nami had only eaten 2 riceballs. "You only ate two riceballs? Aren't you still hungry? You need to eat so you can grow and reach the table you know" Ms. Choko said to Nami.

What Ms. Choko said confused Nami though, she had been told ever since she was little to only eat what she needed, to never, ever waste food. She didn't remember much but she did remember that food was very valuable where she came from. She remembered times that she had to split a rice ball and a tangerine between 3 people and when some people had traded gold jewelry for a small bag of rice.

**Flashback!**

_**A small Nami, no more than 2 years old was drinking a glass of orange juice when a woman who's face was blocked from view but had a few strands of red hair at her shoulders came up to her and said "Nami, they've destroyed most of the rice paddies on the island and even some of the tangerine orchards, we also don't know when another merchant ship is going to be able to get here without being destroyed by him so food prices have skyrocketed. In other words we need to save as much money as we can and try to make a little food go a long way so only eat what you have to alright?"**_

Nami simply shook her head to say 'No' and that she wasn't hungry when truthfully she was a little hungry still. While the aftermath of the flu was still in effect on her she wasn't all that hungry and didn't want to eat as much as she normally would have. Ms. Choko simply sighed and said "Alright…if you really don't want anymore of it…" and put the bento back onto the table.

Soon after lunch Ms. Choko let the kids out to play. Despite Miyuki asking her to not let Nami run around during recess Ms. Choko let Nami play anyway. It was actually quite fun watching her try to keep up with Luffy, who was all over the place. Although when Nami ran past Ayaka's group another one of the girls pushed her and she fell into the dirt where she scraped her knee. Of course Ms. Choko went over to Nami running and Luffy stopped running around and rushed over to Nami's side as fast as he could with Minori and Minoru close behind.

Ms. Choko examined the scrape for a few seconds and said, "It doesn't look all that bad but I'll take her to the nurse so we can get it disinfected and have a bandage put on it"

Luffy followed Ms. Choko down the hallway without asking. Ms. Choko glanced at Luffy expressing concern for the girl and thought _'He sure has seemed to taken a liking to her hasn't he?' _

When they arrived at the Nurse's Office Luffy they found that the Nurse's Office wasn't so much of an office as it was a place the school just put the medical and first aid supplies. Ms. Choko carefully sat Nami down on the bed and told her to keep the wet handkerchief that she had given her on her scraped knee. "Let's see…the rubbing alcohol and the cotton balls should be next to each other unless someone moved them…Ah! Here they are" Ms. Choko said to herself as she looked for the rubbing alcohol.

"And some band-aids are…here!" She said as she found some band-aids and took them from the self.

Ms. Choko took a pair of rubber gloves and them on when she was getting ready to wash the blood off and disinfect the scrape. "Sorry, but this is going to sting a little bit…" she said as she put a cotton ball that was dabbed with rubbing alcohol onto Nami's scrape.

Nami winced in pain but didn't cry and that was a first for the Kindergarten teacher. From what she had seen Kindergarteners were always getting scrapes on the elbows and knees. They would start to cry when they got scrapped and then would start bawling as soon as the rubbing alcohol made contact with their skin. When she was done disinfecting the scrape she put a bandage on it and patted Nami's head saying "You're a big girl aren't you? You didn't cry one bit"

Ms. Choko didn't notice but right before she had patted Nami's head Nami winced her eyes together and tensed her body, almost as if she thought that she was going to be hurt by Ms. Choko. "It's a good thing that you didn't fall on your arm…" Ms. Choko commented "The cast probably wouldn't have been able to protect it enough"

Ms. Choko looked at the clock and said "Oh! Recess time is over!" right before she went almost running back to the schoolyard so she could call the rest of the children inside.

Though before she left she made sure to have a hold on both Luffy and Nami's arms to make sure that they didn't run off. "Alright everyone!" She called as she entered the schoolyard "Recess time is over! We need to go back inside now! Everybody line up behind Luffy and Nami!"

While some of the kids ran over so they could be one of the first people in line some of the others kids gradually made their way over in no rush. After seeing that everyone was in line and ready to go Ms. Choko took them all back into the classroom and got them all to sit in their groups and do a worksheet on basic mathematical skills like splitting a shape equally in half while she took kids individually and quizzed them on things that she had taught them like the Alphabet and how to count to 100.

Luffy and Nami had gotten put into the group that Ayaka and her followers were in and they weren't helping Luffy and Nami with their worksheets at all. Luffy didn't understand how to do what the worksheet was asking and Nami didn't even know what it was asking her to do. The letters just looked like a random array of shapes on a piece of paper to her. After 'noticing' that Luffy was having trouble with his worksheet Ayaka helped him with his but when Nami looked at her she simply said to Nami "What? You can figure it out by yourself can't you?"

When it was Luffy's turn to be quizzed Nami tried to follow him to the teacher but Ms. Choko told her to go back to her seat. Luffy managed to say the first three letter of the Alphabet before the rest of the letters came completely out of order. When she asked him to count to 100 he managed to get to 10 before he couldn't remember any of the other numbers.

After Luffy it was Nami's turn. She was reluctant to go over to the teacher, once again, clearly afraid of what might happen to her if she went over. Though when Ms. Choko called her name again Luffy took her by the arm and walked her over to the teacher. When she was asked to say the Alphabet she looked at Ms. Choko as if to say "Alphabet? What's that?"

Seeing that Nami either A Didn't know the Alphabet or B Didn't want to say it Ms. Choko picked up a piece of paper that had all of the letters written on it and asked Nami to say them aloud. Nami just stared at the chart with what she saw as random shapes on it. "…Nami do you know the Alphabet?" Ms. Choko finally asked after Nami had stared at the piece of paper for a few seconds.

Assuming that 'Alphabet' meant these random shapes Nami shook her head to say 'No'. "Alright then, I'll teach you those later…can you try to write numbers 1 through 100 on this piece of paper then?" Ms. Choko asked want her to write it since she could see that Nami wasn't going to speak.

Nami picked up the pencil and wrote numbers 1 through 5 before stopping. "Are these all that you know?" Ms. Choko asked

Nami nodded her head 'Yes'. "And to think that I would find a kid in this blue that knows less than Luffy…" She said sighing

As soon as Nami got back to her group Ayaka came up to her and asked "How did you do Nami? I did it all perfectly!" even though she knew how Nami had done

Nami didn't respond and just looked at the floor, afraid of what might happen if she looked Ayaka in the eye. "She couldn't say any of her Alphabet and she could only count to 5!" One girl in Ayaka's group answered for Nami

"Is that true?" Ayaka asked Nami "That's too bad, maybe you'd be better off if you went back to the town that you came from"

"Hey what's this?" Asked one of the girls as she spotted the hand-carved tangerine around Nami's neck.

"It looks like a necklace!" Said another girl

"Ayaka-sama! Look at this!" Cried Ruika as she held up the tangerine made of wood from around Nami's neck

"Oh what's this?" Asked Ayaka "A ball of wood with your name on it?"

"How neat! I hope you don't mind if it borrow it for awhile!" Ayaka said while she took the string off of Nami's neck

Nami tried to get it back from Ayaka but she just held it up into the air where Nami couldn't reach it. "Come on now, it's not that high, you can reach it!" Ayaka teased

"That's not yours it's Nami's!" Luffy yelled to Ayaka "Give it back!" he yelled

"Fine, if Luffy-kun wants it then I'll give it to him" Ayaka said with her cheeks puffed out while handing the wooden tangerine to Luffy

Luffy snatched the tangerine from Ayaka and put it back around Nami's neck. "My, what's all of the commotion about?" Ms Choko came over and asked

"Ayaka stole Nami's necklace and I got it back and gave it back to Nami" Luffy said

"Ayaka-chan, is this true?" Ms Choko asked Ayaka

"Umm…." Ayaka replied, not wanting to say that Luffy was telling the truth

"Come with me" Ms. Choko said while pulling Ayaka along by the arm

Ms. Choko led Ayaka to the time out corner and sat her down in a chair. She bent down to eye level and asked her "Why did you steal Nami-chan's necklace?"

Ayaka simply shrugged her shoulders. "Do you think that stealing her necklace was a nice thing to do?" Ms. Choko asked

"No…" Ayaka answered

"Would you like it if someone stole something of yours?" Ms. Choko asked

"No" Ayaka answered while pretending to look guilty

"Alright, apologize to Nami and then you can go and play" M. Choko finished

Ayaka went up to Nami and said "Sorry for stealing your necklace Nami" while pretending to look sorry

Though not apparent to Ms. Choko Nami and Luffy could tell that Ayaka was just pretending. _'I'll get her back for this…'_ Ayaka thought when she found a calendar in the room that had class events on it _'Swimming? That might be good' _She thought as she began to plot what she would do next.

**

* * *

**

**Notes: Omrice: Kinda like omlet with rice 2. Chisetsu's Name (I forgot to mention this last chapter): Chisetsu means childish, it can also mean unskillful**

**Strawberry Black Cat: Please review! My story! Or...or..I won't update!**


	5. Quest for a Swimsuit

******Strawberry Black Cat: Haaaaiiii everyone! *coughs* I'm sorry I haven't updated in a loooonnnngggg time and even now I don't have an excuse other than I got rrreeeaaallllyyy lazy.**

**Firehart: You have sense of responsbility, you even faked a science project...**

**Strawberry Black Cat: That's true! And that's how I plan to keep it! Anyway, I promise to updated sooner thisnext time!**

**Firehart: But with her I wouldn't count on it.**

**Strawberry Black Cat: Anyway, Firehart! The Disclaimer! You must say it now!**

**Firehart: Strawberry Black Cat DOES NOT OWN One Piece!**

After the day's, well, "events", were over the school day passed quickly. The kids were told to get their things and get ready to go home at about 2:20. After everybody was ready to leave and about to do so Ms. Choko clapped her hands together and said, "Alright class, I have an announcement to make. Tomorrow we will take a day off from the classroom and have a swimming lesson instead."

Ruika asked the question that everyone was thinking, "But Sensei, how are we going to have a swimming lesson in the ocean when it's winter?"

"This time we won't be doing it in the ocean as we always have" Ms. Choko answered "Ayaka-chan's father was kind enough to allow us to use their indoor pool for the lesson"

"Now, for things you will have to bring…" Ms. Choko started "I'd imagine that you'd need a towel to dry off with and some swimwear, an extra change of dry clothes wouldn't be a bad idea either" She finished

The kids were now getting impatient and she had lost some of their attention so Ms. Choko decided to finish it up quick, "And I would like it if you could get one of your parents to volunteer for this so we can split you all into smaller groups and get it done faster, remember the faster that we get it done to more time you have to play in the pool"

As soon as Ms. Choko finished the bell rang and the kids were running out the door all while saying yes. Once again Nami was being practically dragged by Luffy, who had unknowingly grabbed her broken arm while he was laughing at the quarreling twins. Nami let out a small whimper because of the pain her broken arm was causing from being pulled. Somehow Luffy noticed it and immediately let go of her arm, after which he gave a quick apology for tugging on it.

Ace met up with Nami and Luffy outside of the schoolhouse and as soon as the three of them got home Luffy burst into the doors yelling "We're going swimming tomorrow! We're going swimming tomorrow! Sugei!"

Ace looked at Luffy and said back in a teasing tone "But you can't swim, you just sink like an Anchor!" **(A/N: Let's see if anyone gets this reference…)**

"I can swim!" Luffy yelled back

"Then why did you almost drown when we went swimming in the ocean last time!?" Ace shouted back to Luffy

"Now, now, boys, what's this about swimming?" Miyuki said calmly as she came over to the boys, trying to change the subject.

"Ms. Choko said we were going to have a swimming lesson in Ayaka's house tomorrow!" Luffy said, excitement fully present in his voice.

"Ah, this is a problem" Miyuki said with a hand to her forehead "Not only does Luffy have a problem with buoyancy, I also don't have any swimsuits or even any material that can make them"

"But didn't you always just put me and Luffy in shorts that we wore during the summer?' Ace asked Miyuki

"Yes, and that is what I'm planning to do for you two but Nami needs a swimsuit and at this time of year you can't even buy the materials…" Miyuki answered

"Hm…This really is a problem…" Miyuki said as she thought "I guess we'll have to borrow one but who is going to have a swimsuit back from when they were a toddler?"

A thought suddenly went across Miyuki's mind, _'If anyone in this village was to keep a swimsuit from when they were a toddler it would be Chisetsu, she never throws __**anything**__ away'_

Miyuki sighed, _'I have a bad feeling about going over there…but…it looks like I have no choice…'_ She thought

"Ace, Luffy, Nami, we're going to Chisetsu's house" Miyuki said as she went to go get a coat for herself

"I've never been there before! We're going on an adventure!" Luffy said wile thrusting his arms into the air

"It's going to an adventure all right" Miyuki said _'Though, it's going one you wish you never went on' _She added in her mind

Miyuki led the three out of the over to Chisetsu's house and hesitated a moment before knocking on the door, _'I hope I'm not going to regret this…' _Miyuki thought

"Coming! Just hold on a sec!" Miyuki heard from the other side of the door along with the sound of mountains of things falling.

Chisetsu opened the door after a minute or two and asked "How can I-" before cutting herself off after seeing who it was

"Myuu-chan! And Na-chan! And Luffy and Ace are here too! It's been so long since you came over to play!" Chisetsu squealed while she was beaming like a small child that had just been given a Tripple-Chocolate-Fudge-Sunday-with-extra-Ice cream.

"We didn't come over to play Chisetsu" Miyuki said back to her childhood friend sternly "We came over to see if you had a bathing suit small enough to fit Nami in that pile of junk over there" Miyuki finished while pointing to a pile of things that went up to the ceiling in Chisetsu's house.

"I don't particularly remember having one, but I'm sure there is one! Just let me find it!" Chisetsu said excitedly while running over to a pile of random objects

Miyuki waited at the doorstep while Chisetsu dug through a pile of old clothes, all of which were too small to fit her anymore. Many minutes and falling unknown items later Miyuki heard Chisetsu yell "Found it~!" in a song like voice as she ran back to the door step.

"Is this one alright?" Chisetsu asked, hold the bathing suit up to Miyuki so she could see it.

Miyuki looked at the suit, it was a small one-piece bathing suit that was blue and had a ocean wave-like pattern on it . "It'll do, thanks Chisetsu" Miyuki said as she took the bathing suit and started to leave.

"Wait just a second Myuu-chan!" Chisetsu yelled as she took the bathing suit back "If you're going to borrow this I have one condition" She said with a cat-like, sly smile

'_Oh god…'_ Miyuki thought _'This was just what I was afraid of…'_

As if knowing what Miyuki was thinking by just the look on her face Chisetsu said "Don't worry Myuu-chan, it's really not anything that bad" while still sporting the sly smile

"I guess I have no choice…What's your condition?" Miyuki asked, she just knew she was going to regret it later but no one else in the village was going to have a bathing suit this small.

"It's nothing much really, my one condition is…" Chisetsu said before whispering the condition into Miyuki's ear

"What!?" Miyuki yelled, ready to strangle her childhood friend "I did that last year! I have to do it again!?"

"Well, I guess Myuu-chan doesn't _have _to do it if she doesn't want to, but if she doesn't she won't get to borrow the bathing suit, I'll even let Myuu-chan borrow one if she does it!" Chisetsu said excitedly

Miyuki thought about the deal Chisetsu was making her for a moment and reluctantly said "Fine, you have a deal" while shaking Chisetsu's hand to seal the deal

'_I can't believe that I got myself dragged into this again…' _Miyuki thought as she held the bathing suit and was taking the kids back home, while practically dragging Luffy, who had wanted to explore Chisetsu's house.

**Strawberry Black Cat: This one is short because like I said, I'm going to update soon! And I mean really, really soon!**

**Firehart: But for her soon is more like weeks...**

**Strawberry Black Cat: That's not true! We have lots and lots of snow and since I can't play much in it because I'm sick, so I have lots of free time so I'm going to get workn' on the next chapter right away! *runs to get chapter 6 done***

**Firehart: She honestly doesn't deserve it but it'll make her happy so please review...or _things_ will happen.**


	6. The swimming lesson

******Strawberry Black Cat: Haaaiiii everyone! I updated soon just like I said I would and it's a longer chapter too!**

**Firehart: Now here's the real question, are you going to do the same thing this time?**

**Strawberry Black Cat: I probably will! I'm going to be off from school for at least another 3 days because of all of the snow! So now's it time for the disclaimer!**

**Firehart: Strawberry Black Cat DOES NOT OWN One Piece!**

After Miyuki led the way home while dragging Luffy home the rest of the night passed rather quickly. While Luffy and Ace had spent the rest of the night playing pirates with Nami trying to keep up with them Miyuki had spent the evening washing the bathing suits that Chisetsu had let them borrow. Miyuki knew that only the gods knew what had gotten onto those bathing suits while they were in that pile.

And so…the next day came as the winter sun softly shone through the windows of the house. As always, Miyuki was up first and Luffy was up as soon as the first smells of breakfast started to circulate about the house. Ace would be mere inches behind Luffy and Nami would wake up groggily after hearing all of the noise. The three kids put their bathing suits on and then put their regular clothes overtop of packed their lunches and got the things they would need for the pool ready, since Nami was wearing a cast she put a water-tight rubber glove-like sock into her pack with instructions to the teacher to put it on the cast before Nami got into the water.

The three ran to the school house moments after Miyuki readied everything they needed with a quick "I'm off school!" and instead of replying Miyuki simply sighed as she remembered that she should get ready to live up to her end of the deal that she and Chisetsu made.

The three got to school and they all went to their respective classrooms. When Nami and Luffy got to their classroom they saw that there was a large group of girls gathered around Ayaka saying things like, "It's so nice of you to let us have a swimming lesson in your family's pool Ayaka-sama!" and "Not only is Ayaka-sama rich, she's so nice too!"

Minori and Minoru went over to Luffy and Nami and gave them a greeting as soon as they walked in the door, however they were soon pushed away by Ayaka who ran up to Luffy and immediately told him good morning and how nice it was to see him today. Ayaka's group of followers came over to them as well and ended up pushing Nami away from Luffy. Nami tried pushing back through but it was no use, the group of girls was like an impenetrable wall. Luffy told Ayaka good morning as well and then broke through the wall of girls and went over to Nami, Minori, and Minoru to go play with them until it was time to go to the pool.

By 8:30 everyone that was going to be there for the lesson was there and so Ms. Choko took marked down the few who were absent and put the kids into a line so they could start walking to the pool. The distance they had to walk was about a half a mile, just far enough from town so that it was perfectly peaceful but not as far as that walking into town was a nuisance.

When they got there even Ms. Choko was stunned at how beautifully elegant the estate was. There were perfectly trimmed hedges outlining the round driveway and fountain, flowerbeds lined the estate and the old brick house covered in Ivy that overlooked the ocean. Even the group of girls that followed Ayaka around everywhere were stunned that she lived in such an extravagant place.

Ms. Choko rang the doorbell and a maid that appeared to be about 70 years old opened the door and asked, "Yes? How may I help you?"

"Well, Ayaka-chan's father said that we could use their pool for our swimming lesson today" Ms. Choko answered to the elderly maid

"Ayaka-sama's father said you could use the pool did he?" The maid asked as she appeared to try and remember if that was true or not, suddenly as if a Lightbulb went off in her head she said "Ah, yes! I remember now. Two other ladies came saying that they were chaperones for the swimming lesson earlier today. Please follow me"

The maid led them to a room that held a large swimming pool that was almost as big as Luffy and Nami's house. All of the kid simply stared in awe at the huge amount of water, sure they had seen the ocean before but they had never seen this much water inside a house before. "This is the pool" The maid said "Now I will take you to the rooms that everyone is to change into their bathing suits in, please follow me"

The maid led them down a long hallway and stopped between two doors. "The one on the left is for the girls while the one on the right is for the boys" She said "If there is anything else you need please feel free to call me" The maid finished as she walked back down the hallway and returned to her duties.

"Alright everyone you heard her! Girls go into the room on the right and change into your swimwear while Boys, you go into the one on the right, as soon as you are finished come back here and get into a line!" Ms. Choko said as she led the kids into the appropriate rooms and then went into the girls' changing room to get her bathing suit on as well.

Miyuki had put Nami's bathing suit on her before she left so all Nami had to do was take her regular clothes off and put them into the bag. As soon as she was done she saw that surprisingly, some of the girls that had to put on their bathing suits were already done and were waiting for their friends to get done changing before they went outside to wait for everyone else.

"Just how old is that piece of cloth that you're wearing?" Ayaka asked Nami as she saw her swimsuit

Nami simply shrugged her shoulders, she really didn't have a clue how old the bathing suit was, she guessed that it was about 15 years old. "Hmph" Ayaka scoffed "It's so ugly compared to mine, or anyone else's for that matter"

Nami looked at Ayaka's bathing suit. It was a bright pink bikini with a few blue swirl designs on the chest for an erotic effect. **(AN/ She's 6-years-old and I put her in a erotic swimsuit *Laughing*)**

. "I can only guess that you can't swim, I mean you can't count, you can't say your alphabet, and you can't even talk" Ayaka said, only a few inches away from Nami "I can do all those things perfectly, maybe your parents abandoned you at sea because your so stupid you can't talk"

Nami simply looked at the ground. Her parents hadn't abandoned her…she didn't remember how she got in a boat in a storm at sea but she just knew she wasn't abandoned…her parents…whoever they were wouldn't be that cruel…would they?

"You don't even have a comeback, you know you were abandoned don't you?" Ayaka said to the orange-headed girl "I feel sorry for poor Luffy-kun and his family, having to take care of such a useless girl"

"Ayaka-chan! Nami!" Ms. Choko called "Are you two just going to stand there talking all day or are you going to come with us and swim?"

Nami heard Ayaka yell that she would be right there and saw her run over. She decided that she should follow, despite not wanting to go to the pool. Ms. Choko made sure that everyone was in the line and led them back towards the pool. "Alright everyone listen!" She called "I'm going to split you all into three groups since we have two chaperones this year!" Ms. Choko pointed to two women sitting in chairs a few feet away. One woman was a very excited looking Chisetsu and in the other chair was Miyuki, who was looking like she was about to kill someone, or more specifically the person sitting next to her.

"Hi Na-chan! Hi Luffy!" Chisetsu called to them as she waved and was jumping in her chair.

Miyuki mumbled something not very nice about Chisetsu while she was still sending an aura of death. Chisetsu not at all caring about the glare she was receiving looked at Miyuki and said "Stop looking at me like that Myuu-chan"

"If you hadn't had forced me to come I wouldn't be looking at you at all…" Miyuki replied with anger coating her words

"Ok! So I'll just say the groups now!" Ms. Choko intervened before a fight started

Ms. Choko began to name the kids in her and Chisetsu's groups and saved Miyuki's group for last. "The kids in Miyuki-san's group are Ayaka-chan, Nami, Luffy, Minori, Minoru, and Ruika" Miyuki said

The six kids made their way over to Miyuki and introduced themselves so Miyuki would know who they were. Luffy asked Miyuki excitedly "Mama, why are you here? Did you come to play in the pool too?"

"No Luffy" Miyuki sighed "To be able to borrow Chisetsu's swimsuit I had to volunteer to be a chaperone"

Miyuki glanced at the 6 kids in her group. Ayaka's swimsuit caught her eye and she stared at it for a moment. "Why the hell are you wearing something like that?" Miyuki asked Ayaka "You're 10 years too young to be wearing something like that and even then it's not appropriate, I didn't even know people made swimsuits like that so small"

Ayaka glared at Miyuki for a fraction of a second before regaining her composure and putting on a cutely innocent face, to top off the facade she asked Miyuki. "Why isn't it appropriate Miyuki-san? Daddy said that she liked it"

Although she appeared to be perfectly innocent Ayaka was thinking something much different. _'I don't like this woman but she's an adult. This sucks, it means I can't get her as easily as I can get Nami…' _Ayaka thought

Miyuki ignored the question that Ayaka asked although she had a comment on it. _'Her Dad liked it? What is he? A pedophile?" _Miyuki dismissed the thought though after realizing she had more important things to think about. "Alright everyone" Miyuki said "I'm gonna be teaching you how to swim today and you better learn fast because I'm gonna teach you fast. As for rules just follow the rules of any other swimming pool, now get into the water!"

Minori and Minoru jumped in first, Ruika climbed in next, followed by Luffy who also jumped into the chest-deep water, Ayaka followed Luffy although she climbed in like Ruika did, and Nami Just stood a few inches away from the edge of the pool and stared at the edge of the water. "Nami" Miyuki said from in the pool "You have to get in so we can start the lesson, the other groups have already started"

Nami didn't move, she just kept staring at the pool's edge. "Fine, we'll do it the hard way" Miyuki said to her as she went over and picked Nami up to put her in the water.

"N-No!" Nami yelled more than loud enough for everyone in the room to hear as she franticly tried to get back into the tile at the pool's edge.

"What's wrong Nami?" Miyuki asked "The water's not gonna bite, see? Luffy's in the water and he's fine. Don't you want to learn how to swim too?"

"Don't you want to play in the water Nami? It's fun!" Luffy told Nami as he jumped up and down in the water.

Nami looked at Luffy. He wasn't scared? There was always something scary in the water that is out to get you from what she learned…

**Flashback!**

_**A little 4-year old Nami was playing in the water until a large fishman suddenly appeared from the water and held her up by the collar of the summer dress she was wearing. The same woman with her face blocked from view appeared and yelled "Put her down right now you damn fish-bastard!" The fishman did as he was told although he threw Nami in the general direction that the woman was in. Nami ran back up to the woman and started to cry. "There, there Nami" The woman said as she stroked Nami's soft, orange hair "I won't let them get you, just remember that the ocean is dangerous as long as they're here alright?"**_

Nami hesitantly grabbed the edge of the pool and looked at Luffy questioningly. Luffy simply nodded, after being reassured by Luffy, Nami climbed into the water while hanging onto the wall of the pool for dear life. As soon as she was in the pool though her head went under as the water was deeper than she was tall. Miyuki pulled Nami back up as Ayaka mumbled something about Nami.

The rest of the swimming lesson was fairly uneventful. Ayaka could swim the best while Luffy was the worst because, as Ace said, he simply sunk like an Anchor, Nami was a bit better but not much, she needed something to hold onto or she would start panicking and go under.

When the lesson was over everyone went back into the rooms to change back into their regular clothes, after they changed they all went home. When Chisetsu saw Miyuki she was expecting to get a scolding that only Miyuki could give but much to her surprise and delight Miyuki actually thanked her for making her teach kids how to swim. Chisetsu didn't know why she was thanked but was happy regardless.

After thanking Chisetsu Miyuki got Nami and Luffy and started walking home with them. Ace met up with them when they were about halfway home. "What do you guys want for dinner?" Miyuki asked all of them.

Ace and Luffy fell over in surprise before yelling every food in existence, after all, it was rare for Miyuki to ask anyone what they wanted for dinner, much less the two that will eat whatever food that is put in front of them within 5 seconds. "I want the thing that you fixed last night! It was really yummy!" a voice that was just loud enough to hear over Luffy and Ace said.

"Alright Luffy, I'll fix-" Miyuki said before she realized that the voice she heard deffnatly wasn't Luffy or Ace's voice.

Miyuki turned around and much to her surprise found that the speaker was none other than Nami, the girl that she had only seen say one word. "Alright then…I guess we're having omelet with tangerine sauce tonight…" Miyuki said, still stunned at how the girl suddenly spoke after weeks of being silent.

That night Miyuki fixed omelet with tangerine sauce, although it was not what Luffy and Ace had wanted they still ate it just as fast and happily as normal. Nami seemed quite a bit happier that night then Miyuki had ever seen her. _'Perhaps she is happy tonight because she got over her fear of the water?'_ Miyuki thought _'No…it must be because of something else…otherwise she wouldn't have suddenly started to talk…oh well…she seems to be happy…that's all that matters…' _Miyuki decided to let the kids stay up a bit longer than usual since she thought of the day as a special occasion. That night Miyuki went to sleep still trying to figure out why the sudden change in Nami had happened. Little did she know it would be years before she found this out and she would only know for a few minutes…

**Strawberry Black Cat: Like it? Hate it? Have suggestions? I'd love to know in a review! (and let me know if someone washes up on a beach in all the snow too!)**


	7. Searching for the fugitive

**Strawberry Black Cat: Haaaiiii everyone! Sorry this chapter is so short but I promise I will update soon! I promise! And it will be a longer chapter too!**

**Firehart: You say this all the time but rarely stick to this promise.**

**Strawberry Black Cat: Ahhhh never mind that Firehart! I have a challange for all the readers!**

**Firehart: Challange?**

**Strawberry Black Cat: Yup! Just tell me which anime I got the names for Chisetsu's kids from! I'll give you one of them! Kiki is from Mew Mew Power! And I'll also give a hint, Satoshi is known as Ash in America! Good Luck! Now Firehart! Disclaimer!**

**Firehart: Strawberry Black Cat DOES NOT OWN One Piece! **

**3 Years Later**

Time began to fly after Nami had started talking, before any of them knew what was happening three years had come and gone. Luffy and Ace had grown physically but hadn't mentally matured a day, Ichigo had grown to the size of a 6-year-old despite being only four and, much to Miyuki's horror and Chisetsu's delight, she had developed a personality similar to Chisetsu's. Nami had gradually come out of her shell after she started talking, although, she never told anyone how she had gotten to Fuschia. Nami had also grown quite a bit. After she started eating normally she started to gain weight, much to Miyuki and the Doctor's relief. She was still small for her age, the doctor guessed she had come from a poor household that wasn't able to afford food and since she wasn't able to eat much her growth had been stunted but she looked quite a bit healthier. Nami and Ayaka still didn't get along well, Ayaka knew what words hurt Nami the most used them often. Chisetsu had managed to surprise them all. She had married a fairly wealthy businessman two and a half years ago and now had 5 children. The twins, Kiki and Miki were 2 years old while the triplets, Usagi, Satoshi, and Fate, were 6 months old.

The mornings were still the same at Miyuki's house as they had been three years ago except they now had two more Luffy-like kids running around. Nami followed Luffy everywhere she could and would sometimes imitate him despite the fact she found some of the things he did a little immature. Ichigo looked like she had gotten a chunk of her personality from Luffy, as well as Chisetsu, and a small bit from Miyuki. Another thing different is Nami didn't sleep on a futon in the main room of the house anymore, she now had a bed and shared a room with Luffy and Ace. Miyuki knew she was going to have to get Nami to sleep in a different room than the boys in a few years but she didn't think that Luffy or Ace would try anything so she decided to just get around to that eventually.

Somehow Luffy hadn't failed any grades yet so now him and Nami (who now knew more than Luffy did) were both in the 3rd grade. Ace had actually done pretty well in school so far and now was in the 5th grade. Miyuki had decided to put Ichigo in Kindergarten this year so if she failed a grade she wouldn't be too much older than everyone else.

The day itself had started normally, Luffy, Ace, and Ichigo battled over breakfast while Nami just ate what was on her plate, Miyuki had tried to get Nami to eat some more after she finished her plate but Nami never ate any more than what was on her plate. After breakfast was over all the kids grabbed their bags and ran out the door after yelling they were going to school.

After they were all gone Miyuki looked up at the calendar hanging on the wall, "It's been three years already hasn't it?" she asked to no one in particular

Miyuki still felt a sense of dread that she had felt since she had awoken that morning. "I wonder what's going on…" she said while thinking "Whenever I feel like this something always goes horribly wrong within the day…"

She decided to brush off the feeling, despite knowing something was very wrong within the waters of the island. "Perhaps it won't be anything this time…" She said while trying to convince herself that nothing was wrong.

As Miyuki finally started cleaning the house and the four kids had gotten to school off the coast of the island, just out of view there was a ship, and the people on it were ready to annihilate the island if necessary.

**On the ship**

"That's the island, right boss?" One of them asked

"Heh heh…That's right…I heard she's living in a village called Fuschia…" A large figure sitting in a throne-like chair answered

"But how will we know which one is her?" Another figure asked

"I heard that we wouldn't be able to miss her with the color hair she has…besides I have this picture…" The boss said while holding up a family photo that had a small orange-headed girl being held by a woman that appeared to be in her twenties.

"This photo looks awfully old though boss…" The figure commented again

"Don't worry…as long as her hair is the same color we won't be able to miss her…" The boss reassured

**7 Hours Later**

Miyuki had finished cleaning the house and now was preparing dinner but she still wasn't able to shake the feeling of dread that she had, if anything it had gotten _stronger_. That night she had decided to make Nami's favorite, Omelet with Tangerine Sauce since it had been that day three years ago that they had found her on the beach. Miyuki looked up at the clock, _'Normally they're home by now…I guess they must have decided to play a bit before they came home'_

Ayaka was walking back to her father's estate after school let out and when she was about halfway home when 3 large figures, several times larger than her with what seemed like hundreds of followers behind them walked up to her and blocked her path. "Excuse me, little girl, have you seem the little girl in this picture around here before?" The tallest one in the middle asked while pointing to the little girl in the picture.

"Yup, she lives in a little shack near the edge of town, you can't miss it, it's got a huge Cherry Blossom tree next to it and for some reason it's blooming, though the petals are white" Ayaka told the figure

"Thanks" The figure said "Come on boys! We're going to pay her a little visit!"

Miyuki had just finished dinner and was waiting for the kids to come home when she heard a knock at the door. "Coming!" She yelled _'That's odd…I wonder who it is…'_ She thought as she was going to open the door.

As soon as she opened the door and saw who it was her face went pale. _"I-it can't be…' _she thought _'Why would the person with the highest bounty in the east come to Fuschia!?"_

"I believe you're housing a fugitive of my empire…" The figure said "If you don't know me already I'm "Saw Tooth" Arlong…"

"Do you know anything about the girl in this picture?" He asked while pointing to the orange-headed girl in the picture

"I'm sorry" Miyuki said "I've never seen her before, perhaps she fled to another island?" _'Oh no…That's Nami…something tells me this isn't going to end well…' _Miyuki thought

In a fraction of a second Arlong grabbed Miyuki's neck and slammed her into a wall saying "You know, I don't like it when people lie to me, especially when that person is a stupid human, if you tell me where she is I might not kill you"

"I-I'm sorry, but you are mistaken…I don't know her…" Miyuki managed to say while trying to get out of Arlong's grip.

In Miyuki's mind she was screaming, _'Nami, Luffy, Ace, Ichigo, whatever you do DON'T come home, please, please stay wherever you are right now!' _

**Strawberry Black Cat: Yes, yes it's short BUT I'll update soon! So won't you review? Pretty please? *uses kitten eyes***


	8. From white to red

**Strawberry Black Cat: HIIIII! I updated soon! Just like I promise**

**Firehart: *looks at chapter* This is a new low, even for you...**

**Strawberry Black Cat: It's not low! I had this planned out since the 2nd chapter! Now! Do the disclaimer!**

**Firehart: Strawberry Black Cat DOES NOT OWN One Piece!**

While Miyuki was struggling to get out of Arlong's grip on her throat her worst fear came true. All four of the kids came running through the front door only to see the horrific sight that was taking place in front of them. While Luffy and Ace immediately seemed to get angry from seeing someone trying to choke their mom, Nami's face went white as a ghost's.

After seeing who had just come through the front door Arlong released his grip on Miyuki's neck and turned his attention to Nami. "Thought you could escape my empire did you?" Arlong asked with a wicked look in his eyes "You managed to evade us for 3 years but now I've finally trapped you"

Nami took a step back, she knew these fishmen from somewhere…she couldn't put her finger on where she had met them but she knew they didn't have good intentions. "Luffy! Ace! Ichigo!" Miyuki cried desperately "Take Nami and get the hell away from here!"

Another fishman grabbed Miyuki by the neck. "Shut up human!" he yelled "Boss, what should we do with this human?" another asked

"Just make sure she doesn't get away, I'll deal with her later" Arlong replied

As Arlong took a step forward Nami took a step backward. Luffy sensed her fear and jumped in front of her, his arms spread wide. "I'm not gonna let you touch Nami!" He yelled to Arlong

"Shahahaha!" Arlong laughed "As if a little brat like you could stop me!" he yelled as he slapped Luffy away from Nami

Luffy slammed against a wall but got up as fast as he fell down and tried to punch Arlong with his relatively new Gomu-Gomu no Mi powers. Arlong took the punch but it only seemed to aggravate him as he grabbed Luffy's fist after it landed on him and threw it across the room with Luffy at the end of it. "Now then, little, girl you'll be coming with me"

Nami took a step back in fear with tears stinging the edges of her eyes when she screamed at the top of her lungs, "No!" and memories began to flood back.

**Flashback!**

**A large Fishman that towerd over all of the villagers was collecting money. Nami's foster mother threw 200,000 Beli into the bag they were using to collect the money. "Belemere-san?" a three-year-old Nami asked "Why are we giving this man money?" **

**Belemere patted Nami's head. "Because we have to so we can live" Belemere said back to Nami.**

Nami remembered how Arlong had made them pay money so they could live. She remembered how they couldn't afford food because of what they had to pay him and…she remembered the day they put her out to sea so she wouldn't die like they were about to.

**Flashback!**

**Bellemere gently lifted a Five-year-old Nami and put her into a small life-boat after giving her a kiss on the forehead and telling her to be good and that they would never let Arlong take her. As soon as they untied the rope that connected the boat to the dock and pushed the boat to get it to start moving Nami yelled, "Bellemere-san! Nojiko! Where are you going!? I want to go with you!"**

**Belemere and the other villagers ignored her as they raised their weapons and started to run towards Arlong Park. Nami heard Bellemere yell "We may not win but we're going to give them hell!" As they became smaller and smaller until they were just tiny specks on the horizon. **

While Arlong and the rest of the Fishmen were paying full attention to Nami Miyuki snuck away for a moment and got the gun she always kept in the house in case she had to defend herself and the kids someday. Seconds before Arlong grabbed Nami Miyuki ran back and pulled the trigger of the gun.

"Ace!" Miyuki yelled "Get those three out of here before it's too late!"

Ace hesitated for a moment but after seeing the situation all of them were in Ace nodded and went to grab Luffy, Nami, and Ichigo. Nami didn't try to resist as she was still taking in all of her past memories but Luffy was kicking and punching because he wanted to go back and rescue Miyuki. Less than thirty seconds after they had gotten out of the house they heard a bloodcurdling scream. This was enough to snap Nami out of the daze-like state she had been in as she was calling out, "Miyuki-san! Miyuki-san!"

Ace took the others to Chisetsu's house on the other side of town. When Chisetsu heard someone knocking on the door she answered it only to find Ace carrying a crying Nami and Luffy trying to get out of Ace's grip. Chisetsu quickly took the kids inside and asked them what was wrong. Her eyes went wide as Ace told her why they were there. After she ran them to the basement and told them to stay put and be quiet so Arlong wouldn't find them she made a mad dash for the Den-Den-Mushi in the living room. Miyuki may have hated that there was a Marine base on the island but Chisetsu was happy there was one so close to the village now as she called them.

She called them and then went and woke her kids from their naps before bringing them down to the basement so it would look like whoever lived here was out on errands. Chisetsu just hoped that when the Marines got there it wouldn't be too late. Less than 3 minutes after she had called the Marines she heard gunshots ring out. She held the kids close to her, trying to keep them from getting scared. It sounded like a war was going on and it was happening on the other side of town.

After what seemed like days of being in the basement the gunshots finally began to die down until they weren't herd anymore. After waiting for a few hours to make sure it was safe Chisetsu went to look out the window to see what had happened. From what she could see everything looked perfectly normal. _'I guess the fighting didn't reach this side of town…'_ She thought.

Chisetsu thought everything was perfectly safe so she led Miyuki's kids back to their home only to see a horrific sight before them. Arlong and his crew were gone but Miyuki was laying in the grass staining it in blood. They all thought she was dead only to once again be in for a surprise. "Nami…" Miyuki said weakly "I think I figured out why you suddenly decided to talk a few years ago…"

"It's because after we took you to that swimming lesson you came to trust all of us and see us as a family…right?" Miyuki stated more than asked

Nami had honestly never really thought about why she began to talk to these people. But…if she had to give a reason that would be it. "Uh-huh" Nami said, the tears beginning to sting her eyes again.

"Heh, at least I was able to figure that much out in my lifetime…" Miyuki chuckled

"Hey…Luffy…" Miyuki started "Promise me you'll protect Nami…ok?"

"Of course I'm going to protect her! She's my nakama!" Luffy said proudly

"That's Luffy, always able to make me laugh…" Miyuki said as she closed her eyes

At the sight of this Nami started sobbing, Ace looked at the ground with his fists balled up, Luffy was trying to get Miyuki to wake up as he hadn't yet comprehended the concept of death, and Chisetsu stared with a shocked look on her face.

'_M-Myuu-chan…is gone?'_ Chisetsu thought. Out of all of the people in this world she never expected Miyuki to die so young.

While she was sobbing Nami thought, _'Two people died because of me…and that's not counting my birth partents…' _Even though it wasn't technically Nami's fault that Miyuki died Nami felt as if she had killed her with her own hands.

Chisetsu put a hand on Nami's head while telling her that everything was going to be alright, even though she was trying to convince herself as well.

The funeral was rather short, almost everyone knew Miyuki and reminding themselves of what kind of person she was would only add to the pain of losing her. By this time Nami had stopped crying but all she did was look at the ground with glassy eyes, the life and energy they once held gone. Luffy looked more worried about Nami than sad about losing his mother.

While Miyuki was being buried underneath the old Cherry Blossom tree next to their house Luffy asked Chisetsu, "How come mom always hated the Marines and you always said she was different before?"

Chisetsu was a bit startled at how the question was just randomly asked, but then again, that's just Luffy, "You see when Miyuki and I were about your age she used to act just like me but one day a corrupt Marine captain came and killed her family because he said that he just felt like it. After her family was gone there was no one to take care of her so they sent her to a government orphanage until she was old enough to take care of herself. After I saw her again, about 10 years later she had changed from being an innocent, optimistic child to a realist that knew how harsh the world really was"

The rest of the burial was silent, not even Luffy appeared to want to talk. After the burial was finished and everyone else had left Luffy looked at the Cherry Tree. He noticed that the petals that were once snow-white were now a dark shade of pink. "How'd the flowers change color Chisetsu?*" he asked

Chisetsu stayed silent for a moment, not wanting to tell Luffy the myth about it. She came up with an excuse for them being pink though by saying "Myuu-chan didn't want you all to be sad because she was gone so she made the Cherry Blossoms pink to make you happy"

As time once again began to pass and new wounds began to heal it would have to be decided where the four kids Miyuki had been taking care of would live. Miyuki's only living relative, her mother agreed to take care of Ace and Ichigo, she tried to make Luffy come with her too but he refused to come unless Nami came with him and she wasn't going to take care of the child who she thought brought death upon her daughter. Eventually Wood Slap (who was also in charge of village adoptions) decided to take a look at Luffy's relatives. He did manage to find one other than his father but he was hesitant on asking him to take care of Luffy and a child that he had never met or even heard of so suddenly. Eventually Wood Slap decided it was better to send the two of them to him rather than send them to a complete stranger.

And the day the man walked in the door to adopt them Luffy was in for the shock of a lifetime.

**Notes: *About the Cherry Blossoms turning from white to red.* There is a famous myth in Japan that dead bodies make Cherry blossoms more beautiful. If a dead body is buried underneath a Cherry Blossom tree, the blood will dye the flowers, making them more beautiful. (Note from Vol. 1 of The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross)**

**Strawberry Black Cat: Like it? Hate it? Want to slap me for killing off a character? Tell me in a review!**


	9. New Family!

**Strawberry Black Cat: Hi everyone! I have no excuses! Please yell and rant and rave at me all you want for not updating since Febuary! After all, I'm pretty sure I deserve it at this point!**

**Firehart: *nods* You do. But I must say, the break was nice.**

**Strawberry Black Cat: Let me summerize how my life has gone until this point. I passed a grade, went on summer vacation, went back to school, broke a bone in my foot by falling backwards, said bone healed, got a crapload of RPGS, played them, finished all but one (Curse you Kingdom Hearts 300-something and a half days!), and watched several new anime. Including but not limited to, Shakuga no Shana, Familiar of Zero, Pandora Hearts, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronice, xxxHolic, and Cardcaptor Sakura. As well as some so crappy I've almost forgotten about them. **

**Firehart: They don't care, get on with it. **

**Strawberry Black Cat: This chapter sucks, everyone's so OOC that I don't know if I would read this fanfiction myself, and updates are erratic, but here's the disclaimer if you still feel like reading!**

**Firehart: Strawberry Black Cat DOES NOT own One Piece!**

When the day of Luffy and Nami's adoption finally came they were taken into the town hall to wait. Town hall wasn't big or fancy, you could have just as easily called it a small house. After all, it was the same as all the other buildings in town. Well, with the exception of a small, weathered sign hanging above the door that proudly read the words "Town Hall" as it squeaked softly in the gentle breeze. The interior had a few wooden chairs and a rather old looking desk in the front, as well as Wood Slaps' office and a small washroom in the back.

The secretary, seeing that they had come in, told them to sit in the chairs and wait. Luffy led Nami by her hand to the chairs, since without someone pulling her along she would only stare at the floor. Although his attempts seemed almost futile, Luffy still continued trying to make her smile. Nami didn't hear or see him, despite Luffy loudly talking and laughing right next to her. The phrase "Someone is coming to adopt both of you today" still rang through her ears clear as day. Her body and mind were almost devoid of emotion as her brain repeated, _'I don't want a new family. I don't want new parents. I just want Miss Miyuki to come back…' _

Minutes turned into well over an hour, and that hour turned into another. Soon, Luffy was squirming around in his seat, bored and looking for something to do. Lunch was fast approaching, and you could tell just by looking at Luffy. "I'm hungrrrryyyy…" he would repeat every few seconds. Finally, the secretary became tired of hearing him whine every few seconds and gave him a pack of rice crackers, telling him to share with Nami.

Luffy shoved a few crackers in his mouth. He preferred meat, but he was honestly just happy to get something to eat. He held another rice cracker up to Nami's face while he asked "Want it?"

Nami didn't answer. Her eyes opened slightly wider, telling Luffy that she had at least heard him. Taking this as a "Yes" he opened her hand and put the rice cracker in it. She stared at it dumbly until her mind finally processed _'This is food, he gave it to you, eat it'_ Nami took a few small bites before eating the rest of it. Still, she didn't really taste anything. Some salt maybe, but that was it. Luffy offered her another, though this time she didn't eat it. Although she had hardly eaten anything in the days following Miyuki's death, she wasn't hungry.

Luffy continued holding up the rice cracker until he decided to eat it. Then the door burst open, revealing a large man in the doorway yelling "Shit! I'm late!"

The man appeared to be somewhere in his mid 50's, his graying hair and forming wrinkles being the main indicator. "G-Gramps! What are you doing here!" Luffy yelled as he jumped up from his chair.

"Ah, you must be Mr. Garp" The secretary said as she looked up from her paperwork. She glanced at the clock. Before saying, "Indeed, you are late. Regardless, here are the forums you are to sign. Please fill them out"

Garp took the forums and stomped towards Luffy. "Is that any way to talk to your grandpa! You should be happy that I decided to take you under my wing!" He shouted at he held Luffy up by the collar of his shirt.

"I don't want to live with a crazy old man like you!" Luffy yelled back

"You brat!" Garp yelled once again as he hit Luffy on the head, creating a large red bump.

"The forums…" The secretary repeated while looking on at the fight in mild interest.

"Oh, right." Garp said as he released Luffy, who fell onto the floor

Nami watched the scene as well, although she was more fixated on what Garp was wearing rather than what he was doing. _'Marine clothing… He's dressed like a Marine. But I've never that coat before. Is he one of the higher ups?' _

Garp quickly scribbled a few more things down onto the paper in his hand before handing it back to the secretary. She looked over it for a few seconds before saying in monotone "Everything seems to be in order. Alright, all of you can go"

Garp jerked Luffy up from his spot on the floor on started towards the door until Luffy stopped him by saying "Wait! I'm not leaving Nami behind!"

"Nami?" Garp asked back. He thought for a moment and then seemed to realize who Luffy was talking about. "That's right, I was getting someone else besides this brat"

He walked over to where Nami was before introducing himself. "I'm Garp, commanding officer of the 153rd branch of the Marines, and Vice Admiral. Starting today I'm going to be your new dad"

Nami still didn't move. She almost looked like a doll, sitting there with glazed eyes, not moving, seeming as if she would break if someone reached out to touch her. "Quiet one, eh? Guess it's best for you two to save your energy. After all, when I'm done with you, you two'll be some good Marines"

"Marine! I don't want to be a Marine! I'm going to be King of the Pirates! I can't be a Marine!" Luffy yelled as he struggled to free himself of Garp's iron grip.

"Shut up!" Garp angrily yelled as he hit Luffy on the head again "You two are going to be Marines and that's final!"

Garp took Nami by the arm and dragged her out like he was doing to Luffy. The only difference being that she didn't struggle. She didn't try to break free, nor did she complain. She walked willingly while Garp led the way. They were led through the middle of the village, and while Luffy was trying to escape, Nami looked at the small buildings and dirt streets. She didn't know when, or even if, she would see this place ever again. Eventually they passed by what used to be Miyuki's house. The same one Nami had called home for over three years. A lone tear couldn't help but slide down her face. The sounds, the sights, the people…it was her home. And, as far as she was concerned, it always would be.

Where would they end up? It could be anywhere. It could be any place in any blue. Who would they meet? Pirates, obviously. They _were_ adopted by a Marine after all, thus subsequent encounters with pirates were inevitable. And that meant there was a chance that they would run into _him_ again.

Vice Admiral was pretty high, wasn't it? Did that mean that she and Luffy would be safe anyway? …Or did that just mean that she and Luffy were going to be in bigger danger? While these things kept going through her head, they kept walking. It seemed like forever .Past houses, small fields filled with sprouting crops, until they eventually got to the small port belonging to Fuschia. Docked at it was a huge Marine ship. Seriously, it almost took up the entire dock. The words "MARINE" seemed to be plastered everywhere it could be fit onto the ship. The sides, the sail, the flags… even the bow had the Marine symbol on it.

The marines onboard the ship straitened up and saluted Garp as he came aboard the ship, now with two new charges in tow. When they pulled the anchor up and set sail Luffy finally gave up. It's not like he could swim back ashore. Garp then led them around the ship.

"This is the mess hall" He said while pointing to a wooden door. "You'll eat your meals here. If you get here late then you don't get any food"

"To the right is the washroom, to the left is the bath, down a little ways is the crew's quarters, this door is the captain's quarters, this one is ammunition and storage, and this one is where you two will sleep" Garp opened the door to reveal a small room with some extra uniforms and blankets piled in the corner. It seemed to be an extra closet.

"You got everything that you're going to need here" Garp explained while pointing inside. "Uniforms, blankets, and…" He paused to think for a moment. "You also got a divider." He pointed to a folded up wooden room divider.

"We don't want it, so it's yours. Change into your uniforms and meet me on deck in ten minutes" As soon as Garp was finished talking he slammed the door and marched up the steps onto the deck.

"I can't believe they let someone as crazy as gramps take care of us" Luffy said while looking at the door.

Luffy picked up a uniform and gave it to Nami. Nami put up the divider. It was one of the first things she had done by herself in days. Her eyes were still glassy though, from the way she was moving it almost looked like she doing it while her body was on autopilot. She started to change on one side of the divider, while Luffy did the same on the other side. The uniforms they were wearing were the same as the ones that the sailors they had seen on the deck were wearing, just a bit smaller. That said, they were still too big for them. After all, I suppose the Marines don't' get kids working for them too often, do they?

After changing, the two of them went above deck, finding that Garp had been waiting for them. "Now it's time to get you brats into shape" He said as he led them near the bow of them boat. "Knowing that woman, she probably never made you have a hard day's work in your lives. Anyway, I want this deck cleaned, top to bottom. Your bucket and brushes are over there"

"What! But this place is huge! It'll take us forever!" Luffy whined

"Shut up! Clean the deck or you don't get to eat tonight!" Garp hit Luffy again, creating yet another red bump where the last one had been.

The threat of no dinner seemed to motivate Luffy enough to start cleaning. He went over to the bucket and got two brushes, handing one of them to Nami. Progress was slow and other crewmembers only made it slower by dirtying parts of the deck that they had already cleaned. Garp would come out every hour or two to criticize their work.

After a while of working in silence, Luffy began to talk to Nami, even if he knew she probably wasn't going to respond. "I wonder how that crazy old man was allowed to adopt us" He said as he scrubbed the floor with a brush.

Silence. "I mean, couldn't they find someone else?"

Still silence. "It's no fun talking when no one answers you back"

Luffy could've sworn that he heard the word "Sorry" whispered faintly, but passed it off as the wind. They worked the rest of the day in silence.

Luffy didn't particularly show it, but he beginning to worry about Nami. She was just as silent and still as the day he met her. Her eyes, instead of fear, showed nothing. It was like she had rebuilt the wall around her emotions that he thought had been broken years ago.

Shortly before dinner, Garp went to check on their progress once again. He looked at the deck, top to bottom, side to side. He thought for a moment and finally pointed the spot in front of them. "See these? They're dirt prints. No dinner for either of you tonight"

"Why! It's not out fault that the crew made the spots that we cleaned dirty again!" Luffy protested

"I told you brats to clean the WHOLE deck or you wouldn't get anything to eat! That's a dirt print! You didn't clean everything! Go to your room! Both of you!" Garp pointed to the door leading to the room where they slept.

After seeing neither one of them move, Garp picked them both up by the backs of their shirts and carried them to the open doorway of their room. He then threw both of them inside and slammed the door shut. "Crazy old man…" Luffy mumbled.

Luffy gathered some blankets together to start making a makeshift futon. Nami did the same. Soon both were constructed. Compared to the futon that Miyuki would make for guests they were rather crude, but it would keep both of them warm during the night. They didn't bother changing clothes. Both were tired from working for most of the day and they knew that they would be woken up early tomorrow anyway.

In the room that was illuminated only by moonlight that came through cracks in the ceiling there was only silence. Luffy didn't like it. Not at all. So he made another attempt at breaking it. This time he just started with a simple sentence. "It's alright to cry sometimes, you know?"

His attempts seemed to be in vain. After all, there was still only silence. But even in the dim light he could see her flinch at his words. There was a crack. He was getting somewhere. He continued. "I mean, it usually makes you feel better afterwards, right?"

He could now see tears begin to prick the corners of her eyes. Another crack. "Sometimes I wish that Nami would let me know what she's feeling so I could help her, you know?"

That did it. The wall came crashing down as she burst into tears and ran over to Luffy, burying her head in his chest. He hugged her in an effort to comfort her. And that's how they fell asleep, in each other's arms, perfectly content.

…Although, as you can imagine, when Garp found them in the morning, he wasn't quite as content.

**Strawberry Black Cat: I've wasted enough of your time. Let me get strait to the point.**

**Firehart: And that is?**

******Strawberry Black Cat:** As much as I enjoy endless praise (as many of you have been doing) there's something I would like even more. Constructive Criticism.

******Strawberry Black Cat: I want to improve. Currently, I'm not satisfied with my level of rambling. Endless praise, although it will make me feel good until I read my crap again, won't get me anywhere. **

**********Strawberry Black Cat: So please, if you review, please point out falts and things that need to be improved. Grammar, contradictions, spelling, pretty much anything to do with the story counts.**

**************Strawberry Black Cat: And with that out of the way. Let's hope I update soon, shall we?**


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